''The Planet on the Table'' is a collection of

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

stories by American writer

Kim Stanley Robinson Kim Stanley Robinson (born March 23, 1952) is an American writer of science fiction. He has published twenty-two novels and numerous short stories and is best known for his ''Mars'' trilogy. His work has been translated into 24 languages. Many ...

, published in hardcover by

Tor Books Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group (previously Tom Doherty Associates), a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles, and is the largest publisher of Chinese scien ...

in 1986. A British paperback edition appeared in 1987, as well as a Tor paperback reprint; a French translation was issued in 1988. The collection was republished in the 1994 Tor omnibus ''Remaking History and Other Stories''. The collection takes its title from a poem by

Wallace Stevens Wallace Stevens (October 2, 1879 – August 2, 1955) was an American modernist poet. He was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, educated at Harvard and then New York Law School, and spent most of his life working as an executive for an insurance compa ...

, which provides the book's epigraph. One story in the collection, "Black Air", won a

World Fantasy Award The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy literature, fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year a ...

in 1984, and was nominated for the

Hugo Hugo or HUGO may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Hugo'' (film), a 2011 film directed by Martin Scorsese * Hugo Award, a science fiction and fantasy award named after Hugo Gernsback * Hugo (franchise), a children's media franchise based on a ...

and

Nebula Award The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), a nonprofit association of profe ...

s. Three other stories were nominated for the Hugo or Nebula Awards, one for both. Six of the eight stories held top-twenty rankings in the annual Locus polls, and ''The Planet on the Table'' itself took tenth place in the 1987 "Best Collection" rankings. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' selected the collection as one of 1986's most notable books.

* "Introduction" * "Venice Drowned" ( ''Universe 11'', 1981) * "Mercurial" (''Universe 15'', 1985) * "Ridge Running" (''

F&SF ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy fiction magazine, fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence E. Spivak, Lawrence Spiva ...

'' 1984) * "The Disguise" ( ''Orbit 19'', 1977) * "The Lucky Strike" (''Universe 14'', 1984) * "Coming Back to Dixieland" (''Orbit 18'', 1976) * "Stone Eggs" (''Universe 13'', 1983) * "Black Air" (''F&SF'' 1983)

Reception

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' reviewer Gerald Jonas praised Robinson as "a powerful and consistent science fiction voice", finding the author "at his best when he writes of people to whom the supernormal is commonplace." The ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

s Douglas Barbour described Robinson as "one of the few writers to enter sci-fi during the '70s whose work continues to push the field outwards rather than retreating to the safe conventional 'escapism' of the past", declared the collection to be one that "no one interested in the field should miss."

Dave Langford David Rowland Langford (born 10 April 1953) is a British author, editor, and critic, largely active within the science fiction field. He publishes the science fiction fanzine and newsletter ''Ansible'', and holds the all-time record for most ...

reviewed ''The Planet on the Table'' for ''

White Dwarf A white dwarf is a stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very dense: its mass is comparable to the Sun's, while its volume is comparable to the Earth's. A white dwarf's faint luminosity comes fro ...

'' #94, and stated that it "displays a wide stylistic range, high points being 'The Lucky Strike' telling of a subtly different 1945 where one man flying in that B-29 over Hiroshima thought twice, and the unclassifiable 'Black Air' with its religious visions on a beaten ship of the Spanish Armada." Orson Scott Card, although praising Robinson's language as "precise and exquisitely crafted" and describing the author "storyteller with a mercilessly clear vision of the world," faulted the stories as excessively controlled, with Robinson's accomplished technique more noticeable than his work's emotional impact."Books to Look For"
''

'', November 1987

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Planet on the Table 1986 short story collections Science fiction short story collections Tor Books books American short story collections

Contents

Reception

References